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/Pianist Rueibin Chen's Blog in Chinese:
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Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Chen Ruei-bin poses for a promotional
photo of his Dreams and Passion Concert.

Chen performs
last year at the Renee & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Southern
California.

Taiwan’s ‘Russian
soul’

Interviewed by Taipei Times

Oct. 10 2017

Pianist
Chen Ruei-bin talks to the ‘Taipei Times’ about the 2014 earthquake that
devastated parts of Tainan, growing up in Europe and his passion for Sergei Rachmaninoff
and Alexander Scriabin

Chen Ruei-bin (陳瑞斌) doesn’t get
stage fright, but as the concert pianist enters the 3,000-seat performance
space in Los Angeles he’s shaking with anxiety. He sits at the piano,
straightens himself, pauses and begins to play.

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake had just hit southern Taiwan, devastating much
of his home neighborhood of Yongkang District (永康).

“I was in the air when it happened,” he recalls. “I only found out after
landing in LA.”

As he begins to play, he still has no word of his family’s whereabouts.
Many in the audience were aware of the situation.

Chen’s ability to persevere under intense pressure is a reason why he is
one of the world’s most sought after pianists.

After Chen finishes his final piece, the crowd erupts in a roar.

“It was the most touching ovation I’d ever received,” he says.

SOUTHERN BOY

Born to music teachers, Chen grew up in a school staff dormitory: a little
Japanese-style house built on short wooden stilts with cats chasing mice under
floorboards.

Chen spent much of his childhood at the family piano — a third-hand
ivory-keyed 140-year old relic bought from a doctor.

Chen was destined for the stage. After making his debut with the Taipei
Symphony Orchestra at age 10, he was sent to Austria to study at the Vienna
Conservatory at 13, leaving his family behind in Tainan.

Unable to speak German, he says he barely left the comfort of his piano
chair for those first months.

RUSSIAN MASTER

Chen was trained by Lazar Berman, one of the greats of the Russian
romantic tradition, who only took on a handful of students, Chen being the only
non-European among them. As a former KGB officer, Berman was barred from
performing in the West for much of the Cold War.

“He was incredibly strict,” Chen says. “If you didn’t play exactly as he
told you to, he’d just get up, walk away and stop teaching you. You had to
learn to endure his wrath.”

Chen says Berman calls this the “Russian soul,” a tragic musical outlook
that accepts no compromise.

Having lived through World War II and the Cold War, Chen believes it was
the brutality and hardship his teacher had experienced that connected him on
such a deep emotional level to music.

“Understanding his story and how he related his life to music was the
greatest thing I learned from him,” he says.

It takes 20 or 30 years of playing pieces from masters such as Sergei
Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin to fully comprehend the meaning of their
work. Chen says this immense undertaking is compounded by other factors such as
historical context, the composer’s personal life and its cultural and
philosophical milieu.

“I can feel the weight of history on my shoulders as I play,” Chen says.

MUSICAL HEALING

To honor the victims of the earthquake, Chen performed Scriabin’s Nocturn
for the Left Hand in April of last year. Thankfully, he didn’t have to play at
his parents funeral because they survived the earthquake.

“Scriabin suffered from depression,” Chen says, “You can feel his sorrow
in his music.”

Scriabin’s music resonates with those who are in the depths of despair, he
says, because it encourages them to keep going.

“Music amplifies people’s emotions,” he chuckles, adding that it has to
have a greater purpose.

Active in numerous charities, he offers free tickets for families with
disabled children to his concerts.

“Whether it’s making music or doing volunteer work, I want to leave behind
as much as I can for this world.”

Chen will also perform the music of Russian composers Alexander Tcherepnin and
Alexander Scriabin, including "Punch and Judy;" "Shadow
Play;" Prelude and Nocturne for the Left Hand, Op.9; and Etude Op. 8 No.
11 and No. 12.

Chen said Tuesday he has put together a diverse program because he wants to
introduce a variety of pieces to classical music fans in Taiwan.

He said he chose pieces from Tcherepnin because of the composer's deep
connections with the Chinese community.

Not only was Tcherepnin married to a Chinese pianist, but two of his students
Chiang Wen-yeh (江文也) and He Luting (賀綠汀) were from Taiwan and China, respectively, and were major
influences on the classical music scene in their respective countries, Chen
noted.

Meanwhile, Scriabin's Prelude and Nocturne for the Left Hand, Op.9, are pieces
that have a special place in his heart, Chen said.

Scriabin composed the two pieces at time when his right hand was injured, Chen
noted.

"But he never gave up, even if he could only play with one hand,"
said Chen, adding that he also sustained injuries in the past and was inspired
by Scriabin's spirit.

At the Taipei concert in October, Chen said, he will take up the challenge of
playing the two pieces with only his left hand.

Chen
began playing piano at the age of five, with his father as his teacher, and
eventually went on to study under the late revered Russian pianist Lazar
Berman.

He was named one of Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the Republic of China in 2004
and performed at the opening ceremony of Shanghai's World Expo in 2010.

In 2014, Chen performed the "Yellow River Piano Concerto" with the
Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, a large outdoor venue.

That year, he also became the first piano soloist to perform during the
inaugural season of the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in Beverly
Hills.

Monday, October 9, 2017

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese-Austrian pianist Rueibin Chen (陳瑞斌) is giving a piano recital at the National Concert Hall, for which he will not only perform prominent works from Schubert and Beethoven, but also premiere three pieces with the hope of bringing something fresh to the music-goers in Taiwan.

As the title of his concert, “Dreams & Passion” suggests, Chen was beaming with enthusiasm when talking about his career as a musician and the program he had prepared for Taiwanese fans.

Although Chen has spent many years touring around the world, he said he felt most stressed to perform in his hometown.
“Taiwanese fans know my performances very well, they can easily name a piece I have played at a particular concert a long time ago,” said Chen.

For the upcoming concert, Chen will play some of his favorite selections by Schubert and Beethoven, including the transcribed versions of Schubert’s Serenade and “Ave Maria” by Franz Liszt, and Beethoven’s "Sonata no. 23 in F minor 'Appassionata', Op. 57".

Apart from the well-known pieces that music fans may be familiar with, Chen has also prepared three works to premiere, including “Nocturne” by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi, and “Punch and Judy” and “Shadow Play” by Russian composer Alexander Tcherepnin.

“As a musician, I feel obliged to share a diverse repertoire of great works with people in Taiwan, that may also be beneficial to the cultivation of the younger generations,” said Chen.

In terms of Tcherepnin, Chen said the two pieces he would be playing demonstrate the composer’s sources of inspiration in Asian culture, particularly because he was married to a Chinese pianist.

In addition, Tcherepnin was the teacher of Jiang Wen-Ye (江文也) and He Luting (賀綠汀), both of whom had great influence on the classical musicians of subsequent generations in their respective countries, Taiwan and China, said Chen.

Chen also said he was set to perform two of Scriabin’s pieces with only his left hand, for the composer had produced them with a single hand during the time when his right hand had been injured.

Chen started his piano study with his father at the age of five, and at 13, he left for Vienna on his own to pursue the dream of becoming a musician.

Over the years, Chen has received dozens of international music awards and has been invited to perform for a variety of major events across the globe, including the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.

The pianist is set to perform prominent works from Schubert and Beethoven, and premiere three pieces to bring a new experience to Taiwanese fans.

What do you consider as the most difficult piano repertoire? Learn from concert pianist Rueibin Chen who has performed with the LA Phil and Pacific Symphony 9/16/17 One-on-one 🎹 Masterclass 9/17/17 Piano teachers workshopSee you in Southern California!

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Internationally
renowned Taiwan-born Austrian pianist Rueibin Chen will perform on the evening
of June 24 at Chiayi City Concert Hall for the Chaiyi Arts Festival, with some
pieces specially played for the very first time in Taiwan.

As
the late Russian pianist Lazar Berman’s only disciple of Asian descent, Chen
has a reputation for brilliant technique and intense artistic expression, as well as having an expertise on the
works of Russian composers. This time, Chen will perform renowned classic piano
works from Russian-born composer and pianist, A.Tcherepnin, including “Punch
and Judy” and “Shadow Play.”

Chen Ruei-bin received his first piano lessons from
his father at the age of five, practicing on an old piano in their living room,
which he described “now must be a hundred years old.”

At the age of 13, Chen was selected by the Taiwanese
government in a national talent search and was sent to Vienna, Austria, the
first time he ever stepped onto an airliner – to begin his formal education in
music. However, the pianist says that other than a passport, the government did
not offer any other support.

Chen has performed in major concert halls all over the
world such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City, Walt Disney
Concert Hall and Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, the Sydney Opera House and the
Hong Kong Cultural Center etc.

Asked which concert impressed him the most, Chen
relates an experience in Russia, how once a man came to him with tears after
the performance, which he later learned from the translator that the man was so
touched by his music, saying that he couldn’t believe how a Chinese-Austrian
pianist can interpret the works of Russian composer perfectly, and it was like
they speak the same language, the language of music.

In between concert engagements, Chen has also ventured
into compositions of new music with East West elements in recent years which
will be part of a series of new recordings.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

This video shares some of Rueibin’s performances through the years, and contains excerpts from interviews where he recollects his musical journey and experiences from childhood, and also talks about his current visions. Hope you like the video.

Very excited to collaborate with pop-star Hacken Lee again! This time is for the famous Chinese New Year Broadcast viewed by tens of millions across China to celebrate the Year of 🐔. Hope u enjoy the link below to the piece we did together a few years ago. ❤️Classical + Pop

Pianist Rueibin Chen

A Chinese-Austrian born in Taiwan, Chen has won a total of eighteen medals, five of them gold, in various international piano competitions in Tel Aviv (Rubinstein), in Warsaw (Chopin) ,Salt Lake City (Bachauer), Athens (Callas), Vienna, Manresa, and Italy (Rome, Rachmaninov, Bellini, and Stresa).
Chen received his first piano lessons from his father when he was five. At the age of thirteen, he was selected by the Taiwanese government in a national talent search and was sent to Vienna, Austria, where he obtained a concert diploma from the Vienna Conservatory. Subsequently, he received a soloist's examination award from the Hannover Hochschule für Musik in Germany and then continued his study under the legendary Lazar Berman.